Spam Arrest is the only company except Hormel to secure a trademark including the word spam recorded on the principal US trademark register. For four years, Spam Arrest has defended its trademark against Hormel’s lawsuit seeking to cancel the Spam Arrest trademark registration.
The US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board said it will hold the final hearing for this case on February 23.
Spam Arrest said it has incurred almost $500,000 defending its trademark rights. Brian Cartmell, CEO of Spam Arrest, said: Not one person confuses our anti-spam service with Hormel’s canned meat; the average American consumer is smarter than that.
In May 2006, the European Office of Trademarks and Designs rejected Hormel’s bid to stop companies’ attempts to trademark the word ‘spam’ in relation to junk emails.
